Blog

What They Got Wrong You care about the environment and water quality. So do farmers. But you also care about the truth. If what whatsupstream and its sponsors say in their site is true then big changes have to be made. ​And maybe there's no room for farming in Washington state. But, it's not true.READ MORE

Why we are doing what we do: perception does not match reality about farms and the environment 5/4/2018 The Center for Food Integrity does an outstanding job of studying and analyzing perceptions about farmers and all things food. Their Earth Day blog post was especially on target and explains exactly what Save Family Farming isREAD MORE

Four inconvenient facts of science show that current plans won't help save orcas or chinook. But there are valuable things we can do. This is an updated version of the Orca Recovery video. The previous version incorrectly stated the amount requested to study dam removal. We apologize for the error and any confusion it caused.READ MORE

Why are anti-farm activists allowed to waste so many of our tax dollars? 9/26/2016 In this Yakima Herald guest editorial, Steve George of the Washington State Dairy Federation shows how the numerous complaints of Friends of Toppenish Creek are being rebutted by state agencies. That's good, but we point out that Friends of ToppenishREAD MORE

White House suggests transparency could lead to a less informed public 9/28/2016 Sometimes you can't even make this stuff up. Those who have looked at the Regulatory Integrity Act of 2016 will note that it is about increasing transparency and accountability among our government agencies--actually that means the real live human beings who run them.READ MORE

While EPA and Whatsupstream attack farmers, PBS tells the truth in national news story on dairy digesters 3/30/2016 Bio-gas digesters are one of the many innovative and important strategies dairy farms are using to improve water and environmental protection and sustainability. These convert the cows' manure, plus consumer waste, into power, natural gas and otherREAD MORE

Whatcom Transit Removes WUS Bus Ad 3/7/2016 Local Radio Station Exposes Malicious Attack of WUS against farmers We just received word that the Whatcom Transit Authority (WTA) is removing the whatsupstream ad from all buses as they violate their advertising policies. We heard this through one of our farmers and will work to confirm. WTAREAD MORE

Rich Appel, second generation farmer and cheesemaker and president of Whatcom Family Farmers, issues a strong call for farmer unity in this August 3 editorial in Capital Press: “This is a new world to most of us farmers. Facebook is full of vegan and animal rights bullies. Reporters show up on our farms looking only

We appeal for enforcement of the state campaign laws, but find again justice is selective under this administration UPDATE: PDC again rejected our effort to see that the Washington campaign laws are followed. We can only conclude that this administration considers it appropriate for the EPA to fund an overt lobbying campaign providing thatREAD MORE

What's better for environment? Modern farming or the old ways? 10/5/2018 This post from American Agriculturist shows what most contemporary family farmers know: that today's more intensive, more efficient, and often larger scale farming methods are more environmentally sustainable. Here's on quote: For example, organic dairy systems in Europe caused at least one-thirdREAD MORE

What if some well known food bloggers checked out a dairy farm? 6/18/2016 Food bloggers are the superstars of the "foodie" world. They are often the ones who inform food consumers about what's good. what's bad, what to choose, what to look out for. What do they think about dairy farms? The dairy industry invitedREAD MORE

With media, public and government attention on the plight of Southern Resident killer whales the decline in the chinook salmon they feed on, our government leaders are taking action to restore salmon and help bring back the whale population. But will these very expensive measures work –– even make a real difference? Sadly, science reports